{"id":1385,"date":"2006-04-16T10:08:03","date_gmt":"2006-04-16T14:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/wordpress\/?p=1385"},"modified":"2010-05-08T14:32:14","modified_gmt":"2010-05-08T20:32:14","slug":"r-e-s-p-e-c-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/?p=1385","title":{"rendered":"R. E. S. P. E. C. T."},"content":{"rendered":"

Aluf Benn’s opinion piece<\/a>, Enough handouts<\/em><\/strong>, is a recipe for convincing the American public that Israel is not some beggar state dependent upon their tax dollars for its survival but an indispensible and autonomous ally of the United States.<\/p>\n

According to Benn, Ehud Olmert is travelling to Washington next month with a shopping list that includes “recognition of the separation fence as a permanent border, economic support, improved strategic relations with the U.S., and defense against Iran”. Benn writes that such visits have too much of a “gimme, gimme” feel to them and it’s time “to change the diskette and broaden the basis of the ties, so they stand firm in the course of changing demographics, governments and public opinion. Slogans like “special relations” and “shared values” are not enough. Interests must be strengthened. The AIPAC model, which was a great success, should be copied in the American political system, to economics, academics, science and culture.”<\/p>\n

Benn concludes: <\/p>\n

Here’s an assignment for Tzipi Livni’s Foreign Ministry: to make sure that in the next five years, the CEOs of all the Fortune 500 companies, the 100 presidents of the most prestigious universities, the heads of the most important research institutions and key artists and writers visit Israel; and to ensure that they leave here with joint projects, research plans and plots for new novels. It is possible that they’ll need an encouraging word from their congressman to get them on their planes. But Israel has nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to what it has to offer America, especially when compared to its Arab neighbors. And it will benefit from the closer ties to the most developed economy and educational system in the world. Olmert should think about this, and not only about the list of handouts he’ll ask for from Bush, when he goes to America next month.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So Benn isn’t suggesting that the U.S. cut the purse strings but rather that it glorify the alliance, that the apartheid, inhumane state of Israel is a progeny of western exceptionalism, and its citizens are superior in every way to their Arab neighbours. Benn wants Americans to shout this from their rooftops.<\/p>\n

It’s not enough that the U.S. enables Israeli terrorism, such as blocking requests by Arab states that the UN Security Council<\/a> openly debate Israel’s inexcusable and merciless pounding of civilian residential areas in the Gaza Strip<\/a>; that since 1967 this recurring posture has been nearly, uniformly backed in every sphere of American influence that Benn now claims are in need of a propaganda-styled makeover; or that the reticence and refusal of Americans to demand that Israel uphold human rights and international laws has hobbled the “antiwar movement”<\/a>. Benn wants the unconditional support to continue but is pouting because these transactions are not accompanied by ticker tape parades that celebrate war criminals as superstars.<\/p>\n

Ehud Olmert has made plans to meet with George Bush in Washington next month. According to Erdogan goes to bat for Palestinians<\/em><\/strong> [ 13 April 2006<\/a> Daily Star staff<\/em> ], quoting from an interview published by the Wall Street Journal<\/em>, the visit will “kick off his drive to secure international help, including financial support, for the pullout of some 70,000 Jewish settlers from their homes in the West Bank.”<\/p>\n

There will be “no national referendum or other vote to seek legitimacy for his plan”. Olmert claims the elections gave his Kadima party a mandate, just as Bush claimed the victory he eked out in the ’04 elections gave him one. But regardless of how popular Olmert is with Israelis, the decision on final borders is not theirs to make. <\/p>\n

The plan’s aim, Olmert told the economic daily, was to establish permanent, internationally recognized borders that will ensure Israel retains its Jewish majority for decades to come.<\/p>\n

Olmert said he expected to carry out his plan without Palestinian input, but that it will nevertheless help create conditions that could ultimately lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state and a negotiated peace.<\/p>\n

The pullout plan – under which Israel would retain large blocs housing the vast majority of the 250,000 Jewish settler population – is the only alternative to continued fighting, he said, calling for it to be given broad international support.<\/p>\n

“The State of Israel will change the face of the region. I will not miss this opportunity,” Olmert said.<\/p>\n

He said he was watching closely to see if the Palestinian government moderates its view toward Israel. If not, he added, Israel will act unilaterally. “I can’t wait forever,” Olmert said.<\/p>\n

On the contentious issue of Jerusalem, Olmert ruled out sharing political control of the city and its main holy sites with a future Palestinian state, but left open the possibility that some surrounding Arab neighborhoods could eventually fall under Palestinian sovereignty.<\/p>\n

“Dividing Jerusalem will not bring peace, only more fighting,” he told The Wall Street Journal<\/em> in his Jerusalem office.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Israel continued an armed campaign against the Palestinians with an air strike overnight on offices of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement in Gaza City.<\/p>\n

The missile hit the building, which houses a branch of Fatah’s youth wing, in the early morning hours, the sources said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Israelis should be made to explain why they cannot create this apartheid state within the borders which have been internationally recognised since 1967. When Olmert says he will “not miss this opportunity” he is not talking about Kadima’s so-called mandate, a “victory” that was more win by default than vote of confidence. He is talking about the window of opportunity the GWOT has created that has rendered American people more vulnerable than ever to Israel’s rhetoric about the need to secure its people from Arab terrorists. Olmert’s unilateral plan is a catastrophe in the making that will not bring peace and security to Israelis because not only will the humiliations and indignities of Palestinian occupation continue they will be forced into even smaller open air prisons. This is nothing more than the next step towards ethnically cleansing the Palestinians entirely from their country. This is a slap in the face of the international community which should be outraged and vigorously challenging the logic he puts forth in defence of it.<\/p>\n

Allegra Pacheco, Jewish Israeli attorney who represents Palestinians in Israeli military court and the Israeli Supreme Court, during her interview in Beyond the Mirage: The Face of Occupation<\/em> [2002<\/a>], said that since 1967, Israel had confiscated over 60% of Palestinian land in the West Bank which destroyed the Palestinian’s land-based economy. When Israel implemented closure during the 1993 Oslo peace process more than a million Palestinians who once enjoyed a reasonable standard of living were forced below the poverty line due the loss of day labour jobs in Israel. Suicide bombings started with the closure. The land theft, destruction of properties, and other punitive measures designed to deny the Palestinians a viable economy have multiplied since then. <\/p>\n

Jessica Montell, Director of B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories that was “established in 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members<\/a>“, also appears in Beyond the Mirage<\/em>. She gives Americans the same advice that she gives to Israelis. “You need to know what’s going on in your name and you need to take a position on it.” There are a number of ways Americans can do this. They could go to the B’Tselem site and familiarise themselves with reports that document the brutalities of the occupation, from the deliberate targeting of ambulances and relief workers<\/a> to the murder of civilians<\/a>. They should be asking themselves how their apathy, or in other cases unconditional support, contributes to appalling actions by the IOF from writing blue numbers on the arms of Palestinian detainees<\/a> to the arrest and torture of children<\/a>. Americans could find out what’s going on by reading books, watching videos, accessing organisations like US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation<\/a>. What Americans cannot do is visit Palestine unless they lie about their reasons for visiting. Israel will not allow visitors into the country who are sympathetic to the Palestinians<\/a> and the curiousity of approved visitors is discouraged or circumvented entirely<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This weekend Evangelical Christians made their way to a tourist shop on the Sea of Galilee. According to a report on NPR, an Israeli company plans to package its water and market it to these Americans. Visitors to Galilee can ride in “a “Jesus Boat,” a wooden boat similar to what archaeologists believe Jesus may have sailed in<\/a>“. Safe to say they were not encouraged to hold deep conversations with Palestinian Christians such as Abe Ata<\/a>, who in response to Sen. James Inhofe’s comment that “God Appeared to Abraham and said: ‘I am giving you this land’, the West Bank. This is not a political battle at all. It is a contest over whether or not the word of God is true,” Ata wrote, “Promises are being made to earthly Jerusalem that God did not make. The Holy Land was promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants, as stated in the Bible. These are the Palestinian Muslims, Christians and Jews, who have been living in the land for thousands of years. The Bible never mentioned that God promised it solely to Jews. Anyone can be a Jew, but not anyone can be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants. James Inhofe and followers are unable to tell the difference between Jew, Israelite and Israel.” And these Evangelical Christians would not have been encouraged to meet with Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb<\/a> who would like nothing more than to educate them on what life is like for Palestinian Christians under Israeli occupation in Bethlehem, as he told Hillary Clinton in an open letter when she visited Israel last November<\/a> and threw her support behind the wall that imprisons Rev. Raheb<\/a> and every other resident of Bethlehem. I don’t expect Christian Zionists, who support Israel only insofar as it facilitates the return of their saviour, at which time Jews will need to convert or go straight to hell, to concern themselves with the plight of Palestinian Christians<\/a> who suffer under the occupation. But what excuse do so-called “progressive<\/a>” Christians have? <\/p>\n

Olmert “ruled out sharing political control of (Jerusalem) and its main holy sites with a future Palestinian state.”<\/p>\n

Olmert’s unilateral withdrawal will destroy any hope for a Palestinian state. Jerusalem has already been cut-off by the segregation wall in moves that contravene international law. <\/p>\n

US Institute of PEACE appointee Daniel Pipes once advocated<\/a>, “that Arabs will not truly accept Israel’s existence until Israel “punishes violence so hard that its enemies will eventually feel so deep a sense of futility that they will despair of further conflict.” He continues to spout this venom as if the Palestinians are a menacing adversary capable of overthrowing the Israelis; as if Palestinians have suffered anything but abominable indignities or been enduring agonising, futile despair for 39 years. This is the death of a people by thousands of cuts. What have the Palestinians ever done to deserve this treatment, and what does it say about the people who inflict it? Hamas agrees to the initiative put forth by the Arab League, a position that has been supported internationally since 1967, with the exception of the U.S. and Israel. As Norman Finkelstein said recently, this is not complicated and it’s not controversial<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Shock and Awe<\/a> was supposed to “destroy an adversary’s will to fight through spectacular displays of power.” <\/p>\n

The strategic rationale of proponents of U.S. plans to bomb Iran, according to Seymour Hersch is, ” — if you bomb and if you sustain the bombing, you will humiliate the clerics, the mullahs, who run the country.” [ The Iran Plans<\/a> ] [ Democracy NOW!<\/a> ]<\/p>\n

Charley Reese tackles<\/a> those arguments in his column this week, as if they need to be dispelled when the results are plain to see not only in Iraq but in Palestine and Afghanistan. I believe the Iranian human rights advocate opposed to a strike on Iran that he refers to is Shirin Ebadi<\/a>. Ebadi and Jody Williams<\/a> are forming a coalition of other Nobel Laureates that intends to challenge the manic rhetoric and drum beats to war.<\/p>\n

But Reese ends on this note:<\/p>\n

The Israeli lobby pushing America to fight yet another war for Israel reminds me of what the French ambassador to Great Britain said at a party: “Why does the world allow this (expletive deleted) little country to cause so much trouble?”<\/p>\n

Why indeed? You should ask your politicians that question.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Just as human rights advocates need to examine their silence on Palestine, realists like Reese need to put the Israel Lobby into its proper perspective. The United States has never needed prompting to throw its weight around the world. Was Israel a concern when the CIA overthrew Mossadeq in 1953<\/a>? The Lobby is only as powerful as Israel is willing to remain an obedient client state that supports the goals of American hegemony. It wouldn’t matter how much grease AIPAC applied to the palms of U.S. legislators if the favours they sought interfered with that objective. The people ladling the gravy may change but the train will always have a U.S.-first conductor. <\/p>\n

People like Aluf Benn are in denial. There is no doubt that the U.S. government will remain silent as Israel continues to persecute Palestinians and drives them from their land. But respect for those who commit these atrocities will never come no matter how much money is invested in propaganda. History will record it as one thief washing the hand of another. Baby killers. Nations that possessed the power to act in any manner they chose and attempted to rule by brute force, the least democratic and humanitarian option, and why their unilateral, gimme, gimme plans are destined to fail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aluf Benn’s opinion piece, Enough handouts, is a recipe for convincing the American public that Israel is not some beggar state dependent upon their tax dollars for its survival but an indispensible and autonomous ally of the United States. According … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdXTf-ml","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1385"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13626,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385\/revisions\/13626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}